AUBURN | The margins are pretty fine for this Auburn team to go on the road against a quality opponent like Texas A&M and come away with a victory.

In wins over No. 17 Arkansas and No. 10 Ole Miss the previous two weeks, the Tigers made those key plays. Against the 13th-ranked Aggies Saturday, the tables were turned.

“I think it's always that. It's always those four to six plays that happen in a game that change the momentum of the game,” said Auburn coach Bryan Harsin. “That’s why everybody always talks about four quarters of football. You just never know when those things are going to happen. So you want to play consistent. You want to play good football.”

In a tight 3-3 ballgame at Kyle Field, it all changed starting with a miscue on special teams midway through the third quarter. Auburn drove to the TAMU 16-yard line and was set to take a 6-3 lead but the usually reliable Anders Carlson missed a 33-yard just to the right of the goalpost.

On Texas A&M’s next possession, quarterback Zach Calzada connected with Caleb Chapman for a 49-yard completion. It set up a 29-yard field goal and a 6-3 Aggie lead.

TAMU drove for a field goal on its next possession to go up 9-3 and then three plays later, Bo Nix fumbled, which was picked up by Michael Clemons and returned 24 yards for a touchdown. A two-point conversion put TAMU up 17-3 with 13:04 left in the fourth quarter.

Three big plays — the missed field goal, the long pass, and the scoop and score — turned a close game into a comfortable 20-3 TAMU win.

“We didn't have enough explosive plays; they had a few. They were able to create the momentum,” said Harsin. “The big one is when we fumble the ball and they're able to score on defense. Thats a big play. That's a momentum changer right there and you've got to be able to recover from that.

“We weren't consistent enough to be able to overcome some of those plays tonight that were negative plays for us. And if you're going to win games, especially in this league, you've got to overcome those plays.”

Auburn, which falls to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in the SEC, hosts Mississippi State next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT on ESPN.